US Government ends labelstock investigation

10.24.06

Avery Dennison Corporation, Pasadena, CA, USA, announced that it has been notified by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that the DOJ has decided to close its investigation into competitive practices in the labelstock industry without further action. The DOJ declined to comment on any aspect of the investigation.

The investigation began in 2003. Then the complaint stated that “UPM and the Leading Producer have already attempted to limit competition between themselves, as reflected in written and oral communications to each other through high level executives regarding explicit anti-competitive understandings, although the extent to which these efforts have succeeded to date is not entirely clear to the United States at the present time.”

At the time, the DOJ declined to name the Leading Producer, but Charles E. Coleman, who had been the spokesman for Avery Dennison, said he believed the Department was referring to Avery Dennison.